"Often, however, the bye-roads of association, as we may term them, lead to rich and unexpected regions, give occasion to noble sallies of imagination, and proclaim an uncommon force of genius, able to penetrate through unfrequented ways to lofty or beautiful conceptions."

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)


Work Title
Place of Publication
London and Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed for W. Strahan, T.Cadell, and W. Creech
Date
1774
Metaphor
"Often, however, the bye-roads of association, as we may term them, lead to rich and unexpected regions, give occasion to noble sallies of imagination, and proclaim an uncommon force of genius, able to penetrate through unfrequented ways to lofty or beautiful conceptions."
Metaphor in Context
There is in the human mind a strong propensity to make excursions; which may naturally be expected to exert itself most in those who have the greatest quickness and compass of imagination. If it be indulged without reserve, it will produce incoherent medleys, fantastical rhapsodies, or unmeaning reveries. Often, however, the bye-roads of association, as we may term them, lead to rich and unexpected regions, give occasion to noble sallies of imagination, and proclaim an uncommon force of genius, able to penetrate through unfrequented ways to lofty or beautiful conceptions. This is the character of Pindar's genius, the boldness of which more than compensates for its irregularity. The truest genius is in hazard of sometimes running into superfluities, and will find occasion to prune the luxuriance, and rectify the disorder of its first conceptions. But this faculty can never be reckoned perfect, till it has acquired a capacity of avoiding them in most cases. It must supply a large stock, and at the same time manage it with economy. While it produces all that is necessary, it must evite all that is superfluous.
(I.iii, pp. 53-4)
Provenance
Reading in C-H Lion
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1774).

An Essay on Genius. By Alexander Gerard, D.D. Professor of Divinity in King's College, Aberdeen. (London: Printed for W. Strahan; T. Cadell, and W. Creech at Edinburgh 1774). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/27/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.